Death Of 16 Soldiers In Delta Premeditated -CDS

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – General Christopher Gabwin Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, has stated that the deaths of 16 military officers in Delta State were premeditated.

Musa disclosed this in his interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, April 3, 2023.

He said: “The attack was premeditated just because there are groups of criminals, cultists, militants (sic) just because they make a lot of money from crude oil theft and believe they are above board. They did this deliberately just because the commanding officer and his team were ensuring that any act of pipeline vandalisation, crude oil theft, and illegal refineries were completely eradicated from that region.”

The African Examiner had earlier reported the killings of at least 16 military personnel in Okuoma community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.

Musa stated that the military could have erased Delta State’s Okuama community in retaliation for attacks on its men and he also refuted the clam that the deceased military personnel stormed the community fully armed.

Musa said: “I have heard comments about what were they (the murdered soldiers) doing? [sic] Once we are deployed on operation, we have the right and mandate to arrest all acts of criminality within that area. So they were there legally and they were doing a legal operation. It was because the commanding officer felt that the threat was not that high, that was why he felt he could discuss with these individuals. He did not go armed.

“That gallant officer, if he had gone armed, he would [have] erased everybody in that place. He felt that these were people he knew; these were Nigerians he could talk to. When he went to talk to them with his team, they were rounded up and shot. Their body parts were cut, their hearts were removed, and I think that that is one thing all Nigerians should stand against.”

He also condemned the silence of the Urhobo elders concerning the issue as he tasked them to speak up.

He said: “I have heard what the Urhobo leaders have said, and I respect the elders, but I want them to speak from the position of strength. They cannot say that they do not know what was going on there. Since they decapitated the bodies, there’s a lot of human sacrifices going on in those general areas.

“It was part of them showing that they had strength. That was why they cut the hands, disembowelled them, removed the hearts and all of that. I don’t know what that was for. What was their intent?”